SOUTHEAST SAS USER GROUP CONFERENCE

History Behind the 2020 Owl Logo

During SESUG 2019, we introduced a few mascots for SESUG 2020. Several adorable little owls joined us and partook of the learning and events at SESUG 2019. While these owls have names and homes they have a few friends that are looking for names and homes of their own. We started a contest to name these owls with the names to be announced at SESUG 2020. There was a flurry of activity on social media with some great suggestions for names. Of course, our conference mascots and the conference logo raised the question as to ‘Why an owl?’

We decided that we should try to incorporate some of Savannah’s history into the logo. One of the reasons the conferences are held at different locations from year to year is so the SESUG community can learn about the places they visit as well as learn about tips, tricks and skills to advance careers.

A lot of people associate Savannah with the lovely trees draped with Spanish Moss, but did you know Savannah is also listed as one of America’s most haunted cities? Kind of spooky, isn’t it? Is it just a coincidence that SESUG is occurring the week of Halloween? Given the circumstances, we felt it was completely appropriate to develop a Halloween themed logo. We wanted something that tied the mysterious, haunting history of Savannah to the fact that the conference was the week of Halloween, but we needed to make sure it was not too frightening. After all, we didn’t want to scare any conference goers away. In addition, owls are symbolic of wisdom, which is what is sought after and obtained at SESUG conferences. In the end an owl logo just seemed to be eerily appropriate.

Below are a couple of links about some of the haunted sites in Savannah:
Why is Savannah one of America’s Most Haunted Cities?
The 6 Most Haunted Places in Savannah That You Can Actually Visit

There are 5 owls that have been already named:

But there are still owls to be named!... Below are the votes we have in so far: